Cleaning garden pond (above ground trough like one

christin, Feb 18, 9:22pm
inherited this with my house.Needs a good clean.Its a few metres long and about 2 foot deep.

it has no filter or anything (no power nearby) and looks clear but has a lot of gunk (rotted leaves that fall in, fish pooh etc!) on the bottom.Whats a good way of emptying it and cleaning it.

unfortunately will take forever with buckets, and the nearest drain is a few meters away so not easily to get a hose there and suction it out.

also is there anything i need to know about cleaning it out, things to avoid etc, or any tips and hints!Only time its been cleaned before was when the liner ripped and was replaced! (and then only had a few buckets of water to get out!

thanks!
samanya, Feb 18, 9:43pm
With no pump to pump it out & if you can't set up a syphon action .it's probably a bucket job.
There's no easy way, to my knowledge.
The only tip I can give you is once you have the water level down to a few centimetres, one of the wide mouthed plastic heart shovels & brush is quite good for scooping the debris out. I usually have a large container (carry -able) & scoop into that & then empty.
A large piece of sponge is also useful to get the last dregs of water etc.
If you concentrate on getting the water 'balanced' in future, there should be no need to completely empty it .a net gets most leaves & junk out.
Maybe you could start by netting the leaves out & seeing how that goes, because if the water is clear it must be in reasonably good condition.
mottly, Feb 19, 3:36am
I bought a stone filter syphon for mine - it sucks all the gunk off the bottom and I put it in the garden (great fert!), then run the hose through for a couple of hours.
christin, Feb 19, 3:37am
Thanks.It's clear as in not green , can see the fish and murky only on the bottom where stuff settled.

Was hoping not bucket as will have to carry each and every bucket to drain so will take a while.

How do I keep it balanced in future without pump and filter etc.it's not so much the leaves (although they sink straight away and big liquid amber ones. Massive tree they get everywhere!) but more so the fish waste I guess.!

Thanks
racheal77, Feb 19, 5:12am
do you have plants in your pond! water lillies etc! Ours sounds like a similar size, after spending many years putting off cleaning it out we finally did it this spring. Used a bucket, as someone has said there is really no easy way, but it didnt take to long - chucked all the water and crap in the garden great for the plants
.jillybeen., Feb 19, 5:28am
There should be baby fish at this time of the year, if the water is clear maybe it is best left till the baby fish are a bit bigger.Ifthe pond is above the ground syphoning should be an option.Have one hose from the tap going, take another hose and put the out let end were you want to fertilize the garden. In the pond put under water,both hoses together the pressure of the tap hose will start the other hose syphoning remove tap hose and start to vaccum the bottom of your pond. easy
christin, Feb 19, 6:29am
No baby fish. Used to get them but after the leak was only left with three fish out of about 7 (some grown babies).No fish last couple of years so guess not breeding pair.

Just took plants out as all grown together root wise and taking over so need to get new ones
ngacooky, Feb 19, 6:46am
you can get this syphon thing from most garden centres for draining out ponds. its orange and about 15cm x 10cm rectangle shape that connects to the garden hose and then you connect another peice of hose to the other end. when you turn the tap on it replaces the dirty water with clean water. the dirty water comes out the other peice of hose. i hope that makes sense. its about $20 and well worth the money
malcovy, Feb 19, 7:52am
Ngacooky, can you explain a little more because that sounds like something I would like for my pond.

My fish haven't had babies and I was told type bigger fish would eat them, how true is this!
samanya, Feb 19, 7:56am
You talking a venturi system!
dms01, Feb 19, 8:08am
oh and maybe add a solar fountain to it to get that water moving
christin, Feb 19, 9:48am
the only problem with syphoning the dirty water out with a thing like above, is i doubt the hose is long enough to reach anywhere near the drain or even grass.i have paving around the area, means mucky paving,b ut i guess it has to go somewhere lol.
malcovy, Feb 19, 9:17pm
Thanks Dms.I have a pond that does need the floor cleaned as many leaves and seeds have fallen in and broken down so once a year will be fine to clean.
mottly, Feb 20, 5:13am
same with mine - so I syphon it into 20l buckets, and tip the 'sludge' on my garden-it's great food for plants.Need to be carefull what leaves fall into the pond's too - some of them will kill your fish.Any babies should be around 1cm long by now and quick enough to keep out of the way - just keep the syphon on the bottom.
christin, Feb 20, 7:40am
Thanks.No gardens nearby either so lots of bucket trips :-(

Have bought the sucky thing mentioned above.No babies only two ish left, but if I can find a good and easy way of cleaning will get more.

Only liquid amber leaves falling in there.

Thanks
edenrose, Feb 20, 8:06am
I bought a solar powered oxygenator, online, which aerates the water and makes fish a lot happier, got lots of plants too.
Use a net and remove floating leaves and ones from the bottom, from time to time.We covered our ponds with bird netting which also stops some of the leaves.Enjoy!
edenrose, Mar 15, 8:54pm
I also put a netting bag over the siphon end to prevent fish getting sucked in.